CHAPTER 246: CLUE [3]

[Eastern Gate, Royal Palace]

[Aure Kingdom]

[Sylari’s POV]

’What is he thinking?’

Sylari couldn’t help but think as she stared at the back of the masked boy.

Sylari didn’t dare to do anything as she saw what happened before.

How the people who are supposed to save her were obliterated into nothingness.

Despite having the advantage, despite all her planning she failed to capture him.

...And now, she was sure he was really pissed.

’...I shouldn’t have done that.’

Regret began to bubble inside her heart as she looked at the men, laying on the ground.

Their throat completely slit with blood pouring out from it.

Akamir stood close by as he flicked the blood off his hands.

His gaze shifted towards her once again. "...You had to do it, didn’t you?"

Sylari trembled violently as her eyes lowered on their own.

Since she was a child there was not much that could make her feel fear.

She in her lifetime, hadn’t even bowed to her own father.

Yet, here she was.... bowing her head at the unknown man.

"I am sorry." She whispered in a meek voice. "...I wasn’t aware of your strength."

Akamir stared at her, his expression hidden behind the white mask.

His tone, however, was sharp enough to cut through the silence.

"Not aware?" he repeated, voice low. "You knew enough. You just thought you could gamble."

Sylari’s hands curled into tight fists against her cloak.

She wanted to snap back, to defend herself as she always had against court members and her father’s scorn.

But the corpses on the ground reminded her—this wasn’t court.

This wasn’t a game.

"...I misjudged you," she admitted, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Akamir tilted his head slightly, studying her like one would a broken toy. "And now?"

Her throat tightened. "...Now I know better."

He stepped closer, the faint scrape of his boots against stone sounding louder than it should.

Sylari forced herself not to step back, though every nerve in her body screamed at her to move.

"I don’t need apologies, princess," Akamir said, his tone calm but firm.

"I need obedience. Try to play me again, and I’ll stop asking questions and simply remove you."

Sylari lifted her gaze slowly. For the first time in years, she felt small.

Her usual arrogance, her shield—had no place here.

She swallowed hard, then gave a slow nod. "...Understood."

Akamir turned away, as if she no longer mattered.

He wiped his blade clean with a cloth and tucked it away.

His shoulders relaxed, but his voice carried back to her, cold and certain.

"Remember, Sylari. You just lost half your life."

Sylari’s lips trembled.

For the first time in her life, she bowed her head willingly—not to her father, not to a king, but to the boy in the mask.

Inside, her thoughts twisted.

’...This man will destroy us all.’

Yet another part of her whispered something she hated to admit—

’And maybe... that’s exactly what we deserve.’

Akamir just ignored her as he observed the path that she had opened up.

"This will lead us to the old man?" He asked, his gaze moving back to her.

"Y-yes." She nodded in response. "Just four houses away from the end, he lives there."

Akamir nodded as he said, coldly. "Lead the way."

Sylari’s steps were shaky at first, but she forced herself forward.

It was narrow enough that their shoulders nearly brushed stone.

Damp air clung to her throat, making it harder to breathe.

Akamir followed close behind, his presence heavy, suffocating.

She didn’t need to look back to know his eyes were fixed on her every move.

The silence between them stretched, broken only by the soft scuff of boots on stone.

Sylari’s mind raced.

’If I take him there... if Malrec sees him... will he even survive?’

Her chest tightened at the thought.

She wanted to see Akamir crushed, wiped out, erased like he had done to her guards.

And yet... something in her recoiled at that same thought.

They emerged into a dim courtyard, the dim light spilling over cracked stone tiles.

Ahead, a narrow row of noble houses rose against the dark.

Sylari pointed with a trembling hand. "Four houses down. The one with the iron crest on the gate."

Akamir’s gaze followed her gesture.

His eyes behind the mask seemed to pierce through the walls themselves.

"Malrec," he murmured under his breath. "Nice house."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at the sky.

It was almost close to evening.

Akamir turned to look at her. "Find me a place to stay till night."

She nodded like a puppet before she led him away.

The guards were barely present in the place and she knew well enough not to be confronted by them.

She brought him to a place with a small house in the middle.

Akamir walked inside with her by his side.

He nodded as he said to her. "Stay here. I will ’talk’ with old man soon."

She nodded as she didn’t dare to even look at him now.

Akamir rubbed the back of his neck as he pointed at a chair. "Go sit there." He ordered. "And don’t open your eyes unless I tell you so."

Sylari did as he told her without a single question.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she felt another layer of dread.

’...What the hell is he doing?’

She couldn’t tell a single thing as she sat in silence for a long while.

---

Night came much faster than she had expected.

Sylari still sat on the chair with her eyes closed.

She did peek twice in between but she didn’t find Akamir anywhere.

That made her even more frightened as she didn’t see him moving out.

Finally, a voice broke the silence. "Open your eyes."

Sylari did as she was told, blinking to get adjusted to the light.

Akamir threw a mask at her. "Wear it."

"...Why?"

She asked meekly but he didn’t answer.

She wore the mask and stood up as Akamir took out a pot.

With his mask still on, he began burning herbs inside the pot.

’...What is he doing?’

She couldn’t understand as he walked out of the house and moved where the advisor of Zagroth lived.

The smoke from the herbs curled up in the air, it wasn’t formless or odorless.

Sylari just knew it was there.

Akamir walked without hesitation, the pot in his hand letting out slow streams of smoke.

Her voice was barely audible as she asked, "What are you burning?"

"Something that will paralyze anyone who smells it." He replied, without looking back.

Sylari shivered.

It wasn’t the answer itself that unsettled her—it was how casually he said it.

They reached the row of noble houses again.

Akamir waited for almost an hour before he moved closer to the iron gate.

It was built to stop any intruder, Akamir stared at it for a second.

Bam!

With one single kick, he slammed open the door, the noise echoing through the place.

The heavy iron gate swung wide with a sharp groan, crashing into the stone wall beside it.

Sylari flinched at the sound, her breath caught in her throat.

Akamir didn’t pause. He stepped forward, the pot still smoking faintly in his hand.

The inside of the place was much worse than she had expected.

Guards were lying on the ground with no movement at all.

Their eyes moved as Akamir walked past them without even glancing at their state.

As he moved, Akamir used telekinesis to hover a blade and slice open the guard’s throat.

He didn’t even flinch as his shadow moved slightly.

’...What the hell is happening?’

Sylari could feel something was really wrong here but she couldn’t point at it.

Her throat clenched once again when they walked past another guard.

She recognized him....he was one of the main guards of Malrec.

She remembered how arrogant he used to be once.

Now, here he was dying like every other insignificant person.

Akamir didn’t stop walking as he reached the main house.

He slammed open the door as he walked inside the room.

There was an old man who lay on the ground, glaring at him.

Akamir turned to look at Sylari. "Is he the one?"

The woman, too shocked to speak only nodded her head.

The old man’s glare didn’t waver, even as blood pooled from the bodies outside his walls.

His face was pale, his hair thinning, but his eyes locked onto Akamir with venom.

Akamir stopped right in front of him. "Hey man." He said with a smile. "Blink once for yes and twice for no."

The old man kept on glaring at him without replying.

"Are you going to answer my questions?" He asked.

The old man blinked twice.

Akamir smiled. "I figured that much."

He moved back a little as he ordered. "Eat him."

A shadow moved out of his shadow and began devouring the old man.

Sylari froze, her whole body shaking as she watched the shadow spill forward like black water.

Nausea gripped her as she quickly rushed out of the room.

But her eyes froze just like her body as she saw it.

....The soldiers whom the boy killed getting devoured as well.

It finally hit her.

She was going up against a complete monster all this time.